washingtonpost.com redesign, round 3

Last April, I wrote a full-length post here on this blog on what I thought was wrong with the washingtonpost.com redesign. Two days later, I wrote a follow up on this blog containing my posted comment to washingtonpost.com editor Jim Brady. Shortly after that post, I wrote a short follow-up on Edward Tufte's Ask E.T. forum topic on the redesign. The text of my post in the Ask E.T. forum appears below.

You might appreciate seeing this marketing piece on Apple's website that profiles both Mr. Jim Brady, executive editor of washingtonpost.com and Ms. Jenn Crandall, the producer of OnBeing. It sheds a lot of insight as to why washingtonpost.com is the way it is today.

http://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/washingtonpost/

A couple of things to put into perspective... washingtonpost.com is an entity separate from The Washington Post newspaper, both part of Washington Post Newsweek Interactive (WPNI). Obviously, the web site draws from the work of the print newspaper as well as from its reporters, but from what I've read in the corporate information, washingtonpost.com is there to cull highlights from the paper for the web and provide web-only features. What I'm saying here is that the organizational hierarchy probably plays into the organization of the website. Hence, the washingtonpost.com logo is not the same as the masthead of the print paper and we see that the "print edition" or "today's paper" as it's labeled now has always seemed kind of detached from the remainder of the page.

Second, I'm sure we're all aware of the pressures that traditional newspaper organizations face. Subscriptions are decreasing, ad revenue is decreasing, and as a result, newsrooms are shrinking. I get the feeling that washingtonpost.com has become the experimental proving grounds to find a new revenue source to make up for lost traditional revenue. In the words of one of my friends in the news industry, "we're trying anything and everything to see what sticks.

Hence, they are trying to work all sorts of media into washingtonpost.com. Not all of it is bad, but of course, the problem is as Mr. Tufte stated, the Washington Post is a news organization -- that is its reason for existence. The fanciest multimedia and the neatest interface can't make up for a lack of depth in the content, which is going to be the trend if they continue to shrink the newsroom.

-- Kendrick Hang (email), April 12, 2007

The marketing video has changed since then, but the spirit of it is still the same. And if you go to washingtonpost.com right now, you will still see two logos: one for washingtonpost.com and one for the Washington Post. I have a correction to my above post though: the parent company is not Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI), but rather The Washington Post Company. WPNI is in charge of washingtonpost.com and newsweek.com, while The Washington Post Company is parent to The Washington Post, WPNI, Express, Newsweek, Slate, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, and Kaplan (the educational services company), among other ventures.

Now, in this week's Washington City Paper, a story on what I mentioned above: One Mission Two Newsrooms. In addition to the story, the City Paper made a video to show how geographically separated washingtonpost.com is from The Washington Post.



My point still remains the same: why should readers care and have to differentiate what the corporate organization of The Washington Post Company is? Why are there two navigation structures on their website: one for washingtonpost.com and an alternate structure for the print edition of Washington Post (under the link Today's Paper)? To us, it's all one single newspaper. If I spot an article in the Food section on Wednesday, I have to figure out if it appears in the Arts and Living section on the washingtonpost.com main page or if I have to go under the Today's Paper link to find it the Food section under the print edition Washington Post.

Maybe this is just a classic problem in DC. Is the Washington Post just a reflection of the turf wars and bureaucratic infighting that is so common in so many workplaces around the region? This is definitely not the first time I've encountered multiple people or divisions in an organization vying for influence without regard for the greater organization. I will admit however that integration, within organizations and within the context of design is quite challenging. However, I still believe in the bottom line: people external to an organization, particularly customers and users, should not have to be exposed to the bureaucracy within the organization, especially in the form of design.

spring 2008 dc film festivals

10 February 2008
Our City Film Festival
Ok, the one-day Our City Film Festival came and went and I missed it. But I like the concept of the festival: to feature films that feature DC. I'll keep an eye out for it again next year.

6-16 March 2008
DC Independent Film Festival

11-22 March 2008
DC Environmental Film Festival
In it's 16th year, the DC Environmental Film Festival will be screening 115 films at over 45 different venues around town over the course of 11 days. I checked out the listing of films and there are many that I would love to see, including: All In This Tea, Ansel Adams, Darwin's Natural Heir (a biopic on E.O. Wilson), and Galapagos: Born of Fire. I will miss seeing the films this year (I'm hoping some of them will be released on DVD) as I will be out with my camera in the Galapagos! Although I will not be retracing the voyage of HMS Beagle, I will be wandering from island to island on this wooden schooner:


Photo credit unknown. (This photo was all over the web without attribution.)

24 April - 4 May 2008
Filmfest DC International Film Festival
From their website: "Films will encompass a global range of cultures, music, and politics from over 30 countries. Festival highlights will include the cinema of Latin America and Politics on Film."

16-23 June 2008
Silverdocs: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival
Still accepting submissions from filmmakers, the regular deadline is this Friday 15 February.

If you want to keep an eye out for the fall film festivals, some links to follow: DC Shorts Film Festival (September), National Geographic All Roads Film Festival (October), DC APA Film Festival (September-October), Latin American Film Festival, Reel Affirmations (October), and the Washington Jewish Film Festival (December).

potomac primary voter info

Courtesy of Maria F., voter information for tomorrow's Potomac Primary, Chesapeake Primary, or Mid-Atlantic Primary. Whatever you want to call it, the info for Va., D.C., and Md. is below.

Virginia
Voter registration status
Polling place locator

District of Columbia
Voter registration status
Polling place locator

Maryland
Voter registration status and polling place locator

dc adaptation of dickens' christmas carol

If you live in DC, you've probably heard about A Christmas Carol at Ford's Theatre being a Washington tradition. If you haven't enjoyed the tradition, I highly recommend it, although this year's show is being held at the Lansburgh Theatre because Ford's Theatre is under renovation. I found a really interesting variation on our local tradition in the paper this week though.

Christmas Carol 1941 is a local adaptation of Dickens' story. It will be performed this season at Arena Stage (on the Southwest Waterfront). The description from the website:

In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Washington, D.C. prepares to celebrate Christmas. The Schroen family keeps the holiday spirit alive in spite of shortages, a housing crunch and a son who wants to enlist despite his mother's fears.

Ensconced in his G Street office, Elijah Strube doesn't care about the holiday or battling tyranny. He can only think about making lots of money. After three local spirits take him on an incredible journey across time, a reformed Strube is committed to serving his community, country and fellow man. Featuring everything from a high-energy USO dance to White House fireside chats, this fresh take on Dickens' classic tale by James Magruder (Broadway’s Triumph of Love) breathes new life into a beloved story. With original songs by Henry Krieger (Dreamgirls) and Susan Birkenhead (Jelly’s Last Jam), this holiday event is magical family entertainment.

If you've read this far, here's the gem: Arena Stage is offering a one-day sale of its tickets for this production. Half price tickets for shows Nov. 16-25 are available this Sunday, Nov. 4! Regular prices are $55-74. No service fees if you go to the sales office in person. If you go online, the promotion code is CAROL50. I found this deal in the November 2 Washington Post, Weekend section.

Although it might sound like it, I'm not affiliated with this production, but I am excited about going to see it. (If you'd like to meet up to go see it, I welcome one and all to join me.) Plus for those who know me, you know I'm a big into supporting anything and everything local :)

2007 dc shorts film festival

The 2007 DC Shorts Film Festival continues and wraps up this week at the Landmark E Street Cinema, downtown in Penn Quarter. The themes for the primetime (7:00 pm) shows include Politics as Usual, Films of OurStage.com, Foreign Beauties, and LunaFest. The 1:00 pm, 4:00 pm, and 10:00 pm shows feature the Best Of DC Shorts, as voted by filmmakers, directors and audience members.

My favorites from the Best Of screening:

• The Wine Bar, Christian Remde
• The Job, Jonathan Browning
• 2 in the AM PM, JG Quintel
• The Little Gorilla, Harry Kellerman
• signage, Rick Hammerly

It was particularly interesting to see the films shot in HD and how different they looked than the ones shot using digital video or film. Showing multiple films in a row really allowed for one to compare films produced in different technical formats. It was also interesting seeing what creative-types notice in a film: one of my friends was really good at noticing issues with sound and color, another was good at paying careful attention to the story development, and I seemed to be looking at the details of the cinematography. Of course, this was all in addition to just enjoying the films themselves :)

2007 dc apa film festival

The schedule for the 8th Annual DC Asian Pacific American (APA) Film Festival has been released. It will be taking place between September 27 and October 6, 2007. A full schedule with descriptions for each film should be coming soon.

I'll be volunteering as one of the event photographers so I will definitely be at some of the social events as well as some of the films. If you decide to check any of the films out, let me know—maybe we can meet up.

Two films I found previews for on youtube...

Bolinao 52
Saturday, September 29 at 1:30 pm, Rosslyn Spectrum Theater


The Owl and the Sparrow
Saturday, October 6 at 7:00 pm, Navy Memorial Theater

flights of fire

Went back to get some more of Artomatic and I ran across some fire dancers from two troupes, Flights of Fire and Capital Fire Arts.

I'm really happy with the photos below. I cherry picked my favorites from the set, but trust me, it took many frames to get these. I like how the exposure turned out (I like my night skies really black), and I was pleasantly surprised at the how the skin tones turned out too. In many of the not-so-great ones (not shown), the focus was really off because I have a hard time seeing through my viewfinder when there's not a lot of light. I use manual focus when it's dark because the auto focus gets really confused when there is not enough light or not enough contrast in the frame. I was also taking three or four shots at a time to capture the fire when it got close to the performer -- that was the only way they were going to be sufficiently lit.

The following photos were taken with a fixed (no zoom) Sigma 30mm/1.4 lens on a Canon Digital Rebel XT, handheld, no flash, in shutter priority mode.


My favorite from this set. 1/30 sec, f/4.5, 3:2 crop


1/50 sec, f/2.5, square crop


If you look carefully, you'll notice fire-illuminated raindrops on the lower right. 1/30 sec, f/2, square crop


1/30 sec, f/1.6, square crop


1/30 sec, f/2, square crop

fallen blossoms at night

Fallen Blossoms at Night

Taken in Crystal City. Arlington, Va. Handheld, 30mm, 1/60 sec, f/1.4, illuminated only by streetlight (no flash).

reflections of art

I took these photos at Artomatic, this year in Crystal City in the building previously occupied by the US Patent Office. Instead of taking direct photos of the artwork, I tried for a more indirect approach, trying instead for reflections of art. Click the photos to view more photo properties and/or to leave comments in flickr.


My favorite one from the evening.


Ran into a friend there, managed to place her into this more abstract shot.


I liked being able to focus on an individual piece in this one.


I liked having both glass and mirror reflections in this one, but I couldn't get the composition to look quite the way I wanted it to.


Self-Reflection. I liked the texture details in this one. (Click on the photo, All Sizes, then Original to see the details.) Wanted to try for a slightly slower shutter speed to brighten the photo a bit, but this one seemed to capture my late-night, end-of a long week tired mood fairly well :)

cherry blossom snow photos

When I originally scheduled the Cherry Blossoms at the Tidal Basin Meetup for my photography meetup, I was anticipating a normal spring sunrise: 50 to 60 degrees, maybe a little breeze. The hope was for a clear sunrise to get some really good light out on the blossoms and to perhaps beat the tourist crowds by a couple of minutes. Washington weather being what it is (wacky), conditions ended up being cloudy, snowing, and 32 degrees, with a wind chill factor of 24 degrees.

Seemed like the perfect morning to stay in and stay warm, but I'm glad I and a dozen-plus members made it out to the meetup. How often does one see snow on cherry blossoms?! By the time we wrapped up, my fingers were so cold, I was barely able to press the shutter button. Those readers who are familiar with the bone-chilling precipitation that falls in DC, be it snow or rain, you know what I'm talking about.

The results were well worth it though. Below is a selection of three cherry blossom photos taken near the paddle boat dock (across from the Jefferson Memorial) on the Tidal Basin and three tulip photos taken at the Tulip Library. A few more selections are available in my Cherry Blossoms (Snow) Meetup photo set and the Washington Photography Meetup photo pool on flickr.













Photos taken on a Canon Digital Rebel XT with a Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 EX DG MACRO lens.